Top Five Writing Obstacles For Parents

5  Your kid won’t take his nap – your premium writing time – unless you sing ‘Who Let the Dogs Out’ and bark at his door every time you hit the chorus.

4  Your kid wakes up from his nap, stands up in his crib, blows you a kiss, and hands you his poo. Poo which, artistic genius that he is, he has also smeared like paint all over the walls.

3  Your kid starts Kindergarten and learns how to use the computer. Your computer.  Your delete button.

2 Your kid starts Grade One and learns how to use the iPad. Try writing the next Great Gatsby to Angry Birds being, well, Very Angry, in the background. Go ahead. Just try it.

1 Your kid decides he wants to be an architect when he grows up. You encourage that. He builds crazy fort tunnels from your office door to your office chair. Watch that back as you crawl to your office every morning!

At this rate, you’ll finish that book when your kid graduates from high school…Good luck!

When I said there were obstacles to sitting down to the computer to write, this wasn’t what I meant. But add it to the list!

I’m getting my feet wet this summer in a couple ways: I’m writing my first long work of fiction, and I’m avoiding social networking for three months (well, Facebook, at least! Twitter is a hard habit to break, so will likely keep tweeting). I figure I can get a lot more done and fit in a lot more play time with my family if I log off, however, I’m going to keep blogging, because it sparks my writing and creativity, and you are my most loyal readers. Many of you have been with me for the launch of EVERY BOOK and from the start of Where the Butterflies Go in 2008! I appreciate that so much. So, I’m here to stay (in between writing sessions and dips in the pool, if it ever warms up!)

What new things will YOU be trying this summer?

Photo by 8-year-old KMS!

It’s now in stock, so get back in the tub, with your paperback Three Spaces, Rub-a-dub-dub!

USA, Canada: http://amzn.com/0986945897
UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0986945897
Germany, Denmark: http://www.amazon.de/dp/0986945897
Italy: http://www.amazon.it/dp/0986945897
Japan: http://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B00BG2EJ9Y

I’m at 19,500 words and I didn’t tell too many people ~ until now. Unless you count my Facebook Page, but with their wonky news feed that only hits 10 percent of my Likes, who knows who’s reading anything I post there?

Back to keeping it secret. How the heck is a writer ~ someone who tells stories for a living ~ supposed to keep quiet about the process of doing something they’ve always dreamed of doing, always felt a little intimidated to try, always felt they had in them? I can’t keep quiet about this!

I’ve read lots of advice along the lines of: Don’t tell anyone you’re writing a book. Not until you’re done. But what was I supposed to say I was doing at home all day these last few weeks? Dancing to Adam Levine’s Payphone while eating Swedish Berries? That would be truthful, but not the entire story. Everyone knows I spend my days dancing with a Swiffer down the stairs, freelance writing, and writing creative work. I can’t really hide from that. Or the Swiffer people, who keep begging me to shoot a commercial.

The book is a romantic comedy-drama, and I’m hoping it will be an enjoyable beach read for many. Yesterday, I was blushing as I wrote my first (tame) sex scene. I kept thinking: Oy. My parents are going to read this. But, I kept on writing. After all, they did have me. And my sister. I think they know just a little about the subject.

Today, Grandma (“Gram”) got a disco ball in her bedroom. I’m at summer camp, I tell you! I’m having the time of my life, growing with these characters and their experiences.

I’ve found some of my best plotting happens while in the shower. This works great, except that I become so lost in the story, I keep forgetting to shave my armpits. It’s pretty clear that by the time this novel’s done, I’ll have to move to France.

I’ve found some of my best plotting happens while in the shower. This works great, except that I become so lost in the story, I keep forgetting to shave my armpits. It’s pretty clear that by the time this novel’s done, I’ll have to move to France.

So, the secret’s out. I’m writing a book. Maybe I won’t finish it. I still have half way to go on the first draft, and I have all kinds of annoying inconveniences getting in the way of my writing. Paid magazine work. Photography work. Feeding my family. Geesh.

I’m betting I will realize this dream, since now I’ve told everyone I’m doing it, and I simply can’t stand quitting. Maybe it won’t get published; hopefully, some day, it will.

I’ll certainly share the journey with you, and all that I learn along the way.

Thanks for reading!

Eggs wrapped in ham (use an oiled muffin tin!): favourite go-to-dinner item for this author! Thankfully, our daughter loves it. She’ll be eating this often in the next few weeks, because Mommy’s writing a book!

The ‘y’ on your keyboard is missing. Jay Leno is on. Your cat named Jay Leno ate your keyboard.

The truth is, writing is damned inconvenient. It’s never convenient to have a plot or character bothering you when you’re supposed to be presenting Marketing for Morons to, well, morons, or explaining what that thing is between your nose and your upper lip to your eldest child while talking on the phone and making your youngest child a ham sandwich (ham and lettuce on the side).

It’s easy to find 100 excuses why it’s not convenient to write.

A writer finds 100 ways to fit writing into their inconvenient life.

Here’s a great excuse for not writing on Mother’s Day: My daughter wanted me to BE SuperMom. No, seriously, with a pink cape and everything. So I did, and had a blast with her in the backyard. Then I wrote about it.

Reblogged from A Life Among The Pages:

• 
• 

From May 9th through the 11th you can grab Heather Grace Stewart's newest poetry collection, Three Spaces, for FREE!!!!!

That's right, while Stewart is hard at work on her first ever novel, she'd like share some of her poetry with readers for FREE! I'm in the middle of reading her collection Carry On Dancing, and I'm loving it. Stewart is a great poet, she really is.

Read more… 403 more words

THREE SPACES FREE in KINDLE STORE

Heather

This is why I love flea marketing and gardening: seeing it all come together on our kitchen window sill!

Or, bathroom window sill: I use these lovely Mason Jars (a steal! from an antique store in New Hampshire USA) to store my sea salts, soaps, and bath beads on the sill just above our bathtub. How do you display some of your favorite flea market finds?